Craving corn? Feel a touch of seismic flu? Watch out

By Erin RemaiHerald Staff Writer

Charlotte King said if you experienced lower back pain, nausea, diarrhea, or headache last week, you may have been predicting Friday's earthquake.

Ms. King, who lives in Salem, Ore., said she has been ultra sensitive to her environment since 1976. In 1980, she predicted the eruption of Mount St. Helens within a few minutes after experiencing migraines and chest pain.

"The day it erupted, I was so sick I couldn't lift my head off the pillow," she said. "At that point on, I could tell you instantly what's happening on the mountain at any given time."

Ms. King said in ultra sensitive people such as herself, different symptoms in different areas of the body can indicate earthquake activity in different areas of the world. Ultra sensitive people feel the same symptoms in the same areas at the same time.

For western Pennsylvania, Ms. King said, the symptoms are low back pain just above the kidney and "seismic flu," an instantaneous onset of stomach and intestinal flu symptoms.

Ms. King runs a Web site (http://www.viser.net/~charking/) and an e-mail service with updates of her symptoms every day. For $5 a month, people all over the world can receive her predictions on a daily basis so they can keep in tune with earthquake activity near their homes.

According to Ms. King's symptoms, Mercer County is due for an aftershock sometime Monday afternoon.

Ms. King said other indications of impending earthquakes are bizarre animal behavior. She said cats will often try to hide or run away right before and earthquake, and ants come to the surface carrying their egg cases.

Ms. King also said right before an earthquake some people may get a strong craving for corn.

"You get a sense of well being when you eat corn," Ms. King said, who added that right before a big quake in her area, the grocery store ran out of microwave popcorn.

If you think you are experiencing symptoms similar to Ms. King's, feel free to call her at (503) 399-0139, or e-mail her at charking@viser.net.